Heracleopolite (Nome of Upper Egypt)
Hadrian, 11 August 117 – 10 July 138 CE
Bronze obol 5.06g 18.7mm 0o
obverse AYT KAI TPAI AΔPIA CEB (Greek: Autokrator Kaisar Traianos Hadrianos Sebastos – supreme commander, caesar, Trajan Hadrian, emperor), laureate bust right with slight drapery on left shoulder;
reverse HPAK – L IA (Greek: Heracleopolite [nome], of year 11), bearded head of Herishef-Heracles right, wearing taenia
RPC Online III 6376, Dattari-Savio 6258, Geissen 3396, BMC Alexandria N79, SNG Hunterian 4969, Kampmann-Ganschow N16.16
Heracleopolite was the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt. It meant, in Greek, “City of Herakles”. Like most of ancient Egypt, its history far predates the Greeks. At one point, it was the principal city of Lower Egypt and formed its own dynasty. The Pharaoh Horemheb is believed to have come from there.
Today, it is the Beni Suef governorate of Egypt.